Nineteen Eighty-Four

This article is not about the Van Halen album of the same name.

Cue music: Brazil by Ary Barroso. Performed by Geoff and Maria Muldaur

When connected to shore power our 2007 Newmar Essex motorhome uses three roof-mounted heat pumps as the primary heating and cooling system.

When the outside temperature drops below 32°F, it has a hydronic heating system made by AquaHot.  Wee use it seldom as one of our full time RVing goals is to stay where I can live in shorts. However, we we have failed on this a lot this past winter....

From an article on Wikipedia.com HERE: Hydronics (hydro- meaning "water") is the use of liquid water or gaseous water (steam) or a water solution (usually glycol with water) as heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems.

Our AquaHot is also our primary fresh water heater. When the 500HP main propulsion engine is running, waste heat is run through the heat exchanger in our AquaHot. So, we have plenty of hot water when stopping for a lunch or a break on travel days.

When connected to shore power our system uses a single 1650W 110VAC heating element that keeps up with dish washing. However, it will not keep up with an extended dance in the rain locker (AKA Hollywood Shower). W usually turn on the diesel burner for endless hot water.

I was conducting the annual maintenance on our AquaHot, which is to clean the burn chamber, the flame sensor and to replace the diesel fuel nozzle and fuel filter and to adjust the ignitor spark gap.  I accomplished this. However, the diesel burner failed to ignite.... OOPS....  

Lots of troubleshooting got me down to either the control board or the ignition coil. The documentation to support troubleshooting was of poor quality and was rather confusing, which slowed my progress.  It also rained off and on so that slowed me down too. I need to sit on the ground to access the AquaHot.

Flowcharting

Not being able to take a long dance in the rain locker added to my frustration factor.

I was down to the last isolation step when the ignitor actually fired.... What????? so I reassembled the AquaHot, and had Elizabeth flip the diesel burner switch to the on condition.  The burner fired up.

For a moment there, I felt like Sam Lowry having the AquaHot fix itself. Luckily, I did not have to call the guys from Central Services and have them produce their twenty-seven-B-stroke-six work authorization form.

Fixed Itself, did it?

So go read George Orwell's book 1984, then watch the Terry Gilliam film Brazil....

Where Are We Going Next?